Durgaa
12-02-2007, 04:36 PM
DISCLAIMER – The following article is for informational use only. It is designed to be a baseline guide to develop a general understanding of add-ons for World of Warcraft and their use. It will be the reader’s responsibility to research any add-on(s) they are considering. The author of this article, members of Iron-Phoenix and Blizzard will not be held accountable for any damage or stolen accounts due to use of add-ons.
What is an “Add-on”?
An add on is a piece of software a user can download and run along with World of Warcraft to help enhance their game play. An add-on IS NOT A CHEAT and should never be used as one. Blizzard frowns on such behavior and will ban the user if they are ever caught. (You may have also heard of these referred to as “bots”.)
What can I do with an Add-on?
Almost anything! There are so many add-ons out there it’s impractical to try and cover them all here. There are add-ons to help with trade skills, class specific add-ons, Raid assistance add-ons and just-for-fun add-ons. For example, a friend of mine has one that if you crit a certain number (let’s say 666) you’ll hear a sound file saying “Great crit! You’ve got the power of the beast!” of course this could freak out your kids so you may want to have the volume down a little.
Why do I need Add-ons?
You don’t. Many people play everyday without running add-ons. The only exception to this is if you join a guild that requires a specific add-on like Omen or CTMod. These are usually used for group events like raids and such. But once you start to use a mod and see the benefits it offers you, you’ll wonder how you ever played without it before!
What are some of the risks in using Add-ons?
Your account getting hijacked. That’s the biggest one to watch out for. Unfortunately there are real jerks out there that will create an add-on with a key logger built into it so they can hijack your account. This is where the research comes in to play. Before you load an add-on, talk to others that have used it, ask your guild mates and search the internet. Other than that, you could experience technical issues. This usually happens if Blizzard does a patch and the add-on hasn’t been tested with that patch before it’s release.
Where do I find add-ons and how do I install them?
Most add-ons can be found by searching Google. But a good resource for add-ons is http://wow.curse.com/. Most established add-ons have their own website which you can get the latest updates from. Also don’t forget Blizzards website, they have a lot of good information regarding add-ons out there. Plus they have a development kit so you can create your own add-ons!
Once you have downloaded the add-ons you want, you will need to install them into the C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns directory. Most of them come in a zipped format so when you extract them you can do it directly to the AddOns directory. However this doesn’t always work. I’ll usually unzip them to a folder I have named “RTI AddOns” (RTI = Ready To Install). This way I can make sure all the files get extracted and I can just copy them over at that point.
Once you copy the add-on(s) into that directory, launch WoW and log in. When you are on your character screen, you will see in the lower left hand corner a button that says “AddOns”. Click on it and it will bring up another screen. This is a listing of all your add-ons. Here you can choose what add-ons you want to load and ones you don’t want to load. This is handy if you have several characters of different classes. For example, you may not want the hunter add-ons loading for your priest. You can do this from the drop down list at the upper left corner of the add-on window. You also have the options along the bottom to Enable all and Disable all. In the upper right corner is the option to “Load out of date AddOns”. When a major patch is issued from Blizzard, usually most of your add-ons will be “out of date” and may not function very well or not at all. You’ll see these as red in color and it will say “Out of date”. You can reload those out of date ones by checking the “Load out of date” box.
Troubleshooting add-ons
Troubleshooting add-ons can be real easy or a real pain. Usually one would have to do some troubleshooting after a major patch to find out which add-on is not working properly. Sometimes it comes down to completely removing all the add-ons from the AddOns directory and re-installing them. (NOTE: If you must do this you DO NOT want to mess with the following folders Blizzard_AuctionUI, Blizzard_BattlefieldMinimap, Blizzard_BindingUI, Blizzard_CombatText, Blizzard_CraftUI, Blizzard_GMSurveyUI, Blizzard_GuildBankUI, Blizzard_InspectUI, Blizzard_ItemSocketingUI, Blizzard_MacroUI, Blizzard_RaidUI, Blizzard_TalentUI, Blizzard_TradeSkillUI abd Blizzard_TrainerUI. These are default WoW items.) If you have to troubleshoot add-ons, go to 7-11 and get a Super Big Gulp, some nachos and expect to get little play time in that day.
Ok, enough with the facts, I want to get started! Can you help me?
I’ll head you in the direction of a few known good add-ons but from there it’s up to you. You know your play style and what you want to achieve, I don’t.
Curse Gaming - http://wow.curse.com/
This is a great site to get Add-ons from. But keep in mind the dark side of add-ons. Research young Jedi, research.
CTMod - http://www.ctmod.net/
Good tool for raids and I believe it is required by the WoW chapter of Knight of the Iron-Phoenix.
Auctioneer - http://auctioneeraddon.com/?p=home
A god send for making legal money. This is not a cheat but a tool to help you with your auctions. It gives you stats on each item and helps you set a fair price.
Titan Panel - http://www.wowwiki.com/Titan_Panel#News_on_Version_3
Another useful stat tool. This places two thin bars along the top and bottom of the screen and contains info such as bag space, money, durability and other basic controls like volume, clock, ect. All customizable.
Gazmik Fizwidgets - http://fizzwidget.com/
Gaz has the stuff for hunters! And others too! I found his Hunter’s Helper and Feed-o-Matic to be really useful for my hunter.
Gatherer - http://wow.curse.com/downloads/details/24/
This tool is great for herbalists and miners. Helps you and your guild find and map where items are.
There you have it! A brief overview of Add-Ons for World of Warcraft. There are tons of add-ons out there just waiting for discovery!
What is an “Add-on”?
An add on is a piece of software a user can download and run along with World of Warcraft to help enhance their game play. An add-on IS NOT A CHEAT and should never be used as one. Blizzard frowns on such behavior and will ban the user if they are ever caught. (You may have also heard of these referred to as “bots”.)
What can I do with an Add-on?
Almost anything! There are so many add-ons out there it’s impractical to try and cover them all here. There are add-ons to help with trade skills, class specific add-ons, Raid assistance add-ons and just-for-fun add-ons. For example, a friend of mine has one that if you crit a certain number (let’s say 666) you’ll hear a sound file saying “Great crit! You’ve got the power of the beast!” of course this could freak out your kids so you may want to have the volume down a little.
Why do I need Add-ons?
You don’t. Many people play everyday without running add-ons. The only exception to this is if you join a guild that requires a specific add-on like Omen or CTMod. These are usually used for group events like raids and such. But once you start to use a mod and see the benefits it offers you, you’ll wonder how you ever played without it before!
What are some of the risks in using Add-ons?
Your account getting hijacked. That’s the biggest one to watch out for. Unfortunately there are real jerks out there that will create an add-on with a key logger built into it so they can hijack your account. This is where the research comes in to play. Before you load an add-on, talk to others that have used it, ask your guild mates and search the internet. Other than that, you could experience technical issues. This usually happens if Blizzard does a patch and the add-on hasn’t been tested with that patch before it’s release.
Where do I find add-ons and how do I install them?
Most add-ons can be found by searching Google. But a good resource for add-ons is http://wow.curse.com/. Most established add-ons have their own website which you can get the latest updates from. Also don’t forget Blizzards website, they have a lot of good information regarding add-ons out there. Plus they have a development kit so you can create your own add-ons!
Once you have downloaded the add-ons you want, you will need to install them into the C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns directory. Most of them come in a zipped format so when you extract them you can do it directly to the AddOns directory. However this doesn’t always work. I’ll usually unzip them to a folder I have named “RTI AddOns” (RTI = Ready To Install). This way I can make sure all the files get extracted and I can just copy them over at that point.
Once you copy the add-on(s) into that directory, launch WoW and log in. When you are on your character screen, you will see in the lower left hand corner a button that says “AddOns”. Click on it and it will bring up another screen. This is a listing of all your add-ons. Here you can choose what add-ons you want to load and ones you don’t want to load. This is handy if you have several characters of different classes. For example, you may not want the hunter add-ons loading for your priest. You can do this from the drop down list at the upper left corner of the add-on window. You also have the options along the bottom to Enable all and Disable all. In the upper right corner is the option to “Load out of date AddOns”. When a major patch is issued from Blizzard, usually most of your add-ons will be “out of date” and may not function very well or not at all. You’ll see these as red in color and it will say “Out of date”. You can reload those out of date ones by checking the “Load out of date” box.
Troubleshooting add-ons
Troubleshooting add-ons can be real easy or a real pain. Usually one would have to do some troubleshooting after a major patch to find out which add-on is not working properly. Sometimes it comes down to completely removing all the add-ons from the AddOns directory and re-installing them. (NOTE: If you must do this you DO NOT want to mess with the following folders Blizzard_AuctionUI, Blizzard_BattlefieldMinimap, Blizzard_BindingUI, Blizzard_CombatText, Blizzard_CraftUI, Blizzard_GMSurveyUI, Blizzard_GuildBankUI, Blizzard_InspectUI, Blizzard_ItemSocketingUI, Blizzard_MacroUI, Blizzard_RaidUI, Blizzard_TalentUI, Blizzard_TradeSkillUI abd Blizzard_TrainerUI. These are default WoW items.) If you have to troubleshoot add-ons, go to 7-11 and get a Super Big Gulp, some nachos and expect to get little play time in that day.
Ok, enough with the facts, I want to get started! Can you help me?
I’ll head you in the direction of a few known good add-ons but from there it’s up to you. You know your play style and what you want to achieve, I don’t.
Curse Gaming - http://wow.curse.com/
This is a great site to get Add-ons from. But keep in mind the dark side of add-ons. Research young Jedi, research.
CTMod - http://www.ctmod.net/
Good tool for raids and I believe it is required by the WoW chapter of Knight of the Iron-Phoenix.
Auctioneer - http://auctioneeraddon.com/?p=home
A god send for making legal money. This is not a cheat but a tool to help you with your auctions. It gives you stats on each item and helps you set a fair price.
Titan Panel - http://www.wowwiki.com/Titan_Panel#News_on_Version_3
Another useful stat tool. This places two thin bars along the top and bottom of the screen and contains info such as bag space, money, durability and other basic controls like volume, clock, ect. All customizable.
Gazmik Fizwidgets - http://fizzwidget.com/
Gaz has the stuff for hunters! And others too! I found his Hunter’s Helper and Feed-o-Matic to be really useful for my hunter.
Gatherer - http://wow.curse.com/downloads/details/24/
This tool is great for herbalists and miners. Helps you and your guild find and map where items are.
There you have it! A brief overview of Add-Ons for World of Warcraft. There are tons of add-ons out there just waiting for discovery!